i have a tosh dvd player and a panasonic ae100 projector connected with component, has anybody upgraded to the new hi definition and if so is there a lot of difference in picture quality...cheers.

[squibbly]

Macky

It depends on both the source and the display. The Toshiba SD350 has been reported as not being that great out of HDMI, whilst something like the Pioneer 868 was built for HDMI output. On most projectors you should be able to get 1:1 pixel mapping, but this isn't always the case (eg Sony HS50, which used to suffer severe underscan and now suffers overscan!).

It's a suck it and see route, I think, though in general it should be an improvement.

Squibbly

[rob_talisman]

I project from PC thru to my Toshiba TDP-M700 and the diff from S-video to HDMI is a massive improvement.

[dmjohnson123]

If you read some threads over on the DVD Player forum some people have been blown away by HDMI and others have been underwhelmed to say the least.

Its probably fair to say if you compared a very good component out DVD Player to a cheap HDMI player its entirely probable the component out will give the "better" picture. Again, more on this can be found on the DVD Forums.

I recently bought a Z3 projector and also went for a Samsung 850 with HDMI output. I am absolutely delighted with the picture quality using HDMI but the player itself is a pain to use. Although multiregion all samsungs have to manually be set for NTSC or Pal depending on the disc your playing and there is also an annoying "hdmi audio not supported" message which pops up and again you have to manually switch off on-screen displays each viewing session to get rid of it. I wouldn't recommend the Samsung for these reasons although as I've said the picture quality using HDMI is superb IMHO.

[moosie]

I have the Samsung HD850 too connected to a Benq Pe7700 projector. Never get the HDMI Audio not supported message and once I put in the multi region hack I never had to manually set to NTSC or PAL.

Is the picture from DVD to Display infinitely better than other sources? I'm not convinced. I'm imagine that HDMI will be far superior for HD Pictures but for non HD inputs I'm not totally convinced that the difference was worth splashing out on a new dvd player for ( as I did ).

[nigelbb]

I have a Samsung 945 which I bought at the same time as my Panasonic PT-AE700. I have tried all the outputs to the projector & the best quality is in this order composite, s-video, SCART RGB, component & HDMI. HDMI is clearly better although you do lose some ability to muck about with the picture etc but then the idea of all digital signal path is that you can't muck it about:-)

With the multiregion hack I do not have to choose NTSC vs PAL. I do not get the 'No HDMI Audio' message but ISTR that I switched off error messages in some menu. The player looks nice & plays almost everything although it ignores a mini-DVD (DVD format but burned on CD-R) & more annoyingly although it plays DivX fine I have to actually author a DVD with MPEG2 files as it refuses to play MPEG direct off a disk. This is annoying as it's much quicker to just burn an MPEG2 recorded from my DVB-S satellite card rather than having to create a proper DVD.

[Siamese Cat]

Originally Posted by moosie

I have the Samsung HD850 too connected to a Benq Pe7700 projector. Never get the HDMI Audio not supported message and once I put in the multi region hack I never had to manually set to NTSC or PAL.

Is the picture from DVD to Display infinitely better than other sources? I'm not convinced. I'm imagine that HDMI will be far superior for HD Pictures but for non HD inputs I'm not totally convinced that the difference was worth splashing out on a new dvd player for ( as I did ).

I tried an Oppo dvd player with a BenQ PE700 last week and viewed it through both component and DVD/HDMI set to 720p. Whilst the difference wasn't "infinitely" better - what is - there was a big difference. Through the digital connection the picture had much more solidity and depth. Having seen what the BenQ could do with the digital signal there's no way I'd go back to using component. However the Oppo does only put out an interlaced signal and doesn't upscale through component. If you've got a seriously good analogue output on your dvd player then you might well not see any improvement at all. If you haven't then I'd unequivocally recommend the Oppo, it's a superb dvd player at an unbelievable price.

[nigelbb]

Originally Posted by Siamese Cat

If you haven't then I'd unequivocally recommend the Oppo, it's a superb dvd player at an unbelievable price.

Have I missed something? The Oppo seems to have similar specifications to the somewhat cheaper Samsung upconverting DivX DVD players.

[dmjohnson123]

Originally Posted by moosie

I have the Samsung HD850 too connected to a Benq Pe7700 projector. Never get the HDMI Audio not supported message and once I put in the multi region hack I never had to manually set to NTSC or PAL.

If I don't set my Samsung HD850 to NTSC when playing region 1 discs I get Jerk-o-rama which is sorted if I manually switch to NTSC from PAL. The "hdmi audio not supported" message and the no auto NTSC to PAL switching on Samsungs have both been mentioned over on the DVD Players forum by others.

Maybe the "HDMI audio not supported" message depends upon the screen or projector your hooked upto or the cable your using. I have a Z3 and am using a 5m Lindy HDMI to HDMI cable. I can switch off the on-screen messages on the 850 which kills the error message but this defaults back to on when the player is next powered up so I have to repeat every time.

These are really annoying niggles and in a lot of ways I wish I'd gone for a Pio 575 or 585 Player (I've had Pios in the past and they are great players). Although this would limit me to Component instead of HDMI I would not have had the niggles I now have to live with.

[Joe Fernand]

Hello MACKY

Keep in mind HDMI is not High Definition!

HDMI is an interconnect that carries a Digital Video plus Stereo or Multi Channel audio signal - the video signal can be Standard Definition, Extended Definition or High Definition.

Currently some sources have the ability to up-convert Standard Definition discs to a High Definition resolution - though its not the same as a True High Definition source.

Some implementations of HDMI are very good - some not.

With your projector your 'limited' to Inputting High Definition sources via its Analogue YUV inputs - you don't have HDMI on a PT-AE100.

With an Analogue High Definition source (say D-VHS) you'll see a fair old improvement over a Standard Definition DVD.

There are very few True HD sources around as yet and the ones on the horizon will mostly require that you have an HDMI Input on your projector and full signal compatibility with 720P and 1080i at 50 and 60Hz; though you can get around the HDMI issue with a 'converter' box (approx £300) if you stick with your Analogue only projector.

If your serious about HD then I'd suggest a new 'HD Ready' or 'HD Compatible' Projector is on your near horizon

Best regards

Joe